HMCS TRENTONIAN -An Artistic Portrayal

There have been several wonderful paintings of HMCS TRENTONIAN produced by professional and amateur Canadian Artists. The first was produced by one of her crew in 1944.

AB W. Becker, RCNVR, an avid artist had brought his paints an canvas with him when he joined TRENTONIAN. He would set his canvas on a table on TRENTONIAN’s foc’s’le and started painting a scene of a sister corvette on the North Atlantic. His shipmate, AB Harold Salmon, RCNVR liked the painting, so Becker gave it to him and at Salmon’s request changed the pennant number on the side to TRENTONIAN’s K368. Becker’s painting was last reported many years ago with the Salmon family, please contact me if anyone knows of it’s current location.

Below are several of the known artistic portrayals of HMCS TRENTONIAN.

HMCS TRENTONIAN by Marc Magee.

HMCS TRENTONIAN by Marc Magee

HMCS TRENTONIAN sails past the Juno Beach lightship, escorting a convoy to the Normandy beachhead. This painting was used for the cover of White Ensign Flying and was donated to the Quinte West Public Library following the book release in April 2014. The painting is prominently hung in the library, beside the wall of windows, overlooking the Bay of Quinte.

HMCS TRENTONIAN by Bill McMurray

HMCS TRENTONIAN by Bill McMurray

The original painting was presented to Tom Butler, Able Seaman, RCNVR, survivor of HMCS TRENTONIAN. It was last reported hanging at the Army, Navy and Air Force Association #284 in Stevenson, BC, which has now closed and the building torn down. If anyone knows of the current location of this painting, please contact me.

HMCS TRENTONIAN by Hank Winsor

HMCS TRENTONIAN by Hank Winsor

TRENTONIAN is portrayed later in the war in her Admiralty Disruptive camouflage scheme. Hank Winsor from Kingston, Ontario also provided the painting of HMCS NAPANEE, used for the cover of Warships of the Bay of Quinte.

This painting is proudly displayed in my office.

HMCS TRENTONIAN’s Final Moments by Hank Winsor

TRENTONIAN’s Final Moments by Hank Winsor

In Hank’s second painting of TRENTONIAN he portrays the last memory of their ship from the men who were forced to abandoned her. Torpedoed and sinking, TRENTONIAN stands straight up, bow pointed to the sky moments before she slid beneath the English Channel.

This painting was included in my book, White Ensign Flying. Hank generously presented both of these paintings to me as gifts.

These painting are not the only artistic portrayal’s of HMCS TRENTONIAN. If anyone has a painting of this ship please contact me, so that it can be added to this page.

Battle Of Atlantic Place -Needs Our Support!!!

Battle of Atlantic Place will tell the story of Canadian’s achievement during the Battle of the Atlantic in WWII. This will not be a museum, but an innovative, experiential centre illuminating the whole story, from fighting U-Boats, to support by hundreds of communities across Canada building ships, supplying goods and material to win the longest battle in the history of man.

Located on the beautiful Halifax waterfront, the building will house the centre and will be architecturally breath-taking; with a glass wall facing the harbour, inside HMCS SACKVILLE, the last surviving corvette from WWII will be preserved with a Canso Flying Boat suspended overhead. The building will be as recognized as the Opera House in Australia and carry the same importance to Canadian’s as the Vimy Ridge Memorial and Juno Beach Centre.

Discover more of this incredible project at the Battle of Atlantic Place Website and pledge your support!
http://battleoftheatlanticplace.ca/